Final decision on the acceptance of Hungarian vaccine passport in the EU

Presumably, the EU vaccination certificate can also be obtained by those who have received a Russian or Chinese vaccine not yet approved by the EU Medicines Agency. Accordingly, the Hungarian vaccine passport will also be accepted in the EU.

As we reported last week, the validity of the Hungarian vaccine passport was still in question in the case of Chinese and Russian vaccines not yet authorised by the European Union. However, based on the European Commission’s proposal to be presented on 17^th March, the uniform EU vaccination certificate can also be obtained by those who have received a Russian or Chinese vaccine not yet approved by the EU Medicines Agency.

As the Hungarian news portal Portfolio reports, based on the European Commission’s proposal, a vaccination certificate should not be a precondition for free travel within the EU, nor should vaccination be compulsory for anyone. Accordingly, this would make it possible to travel freely without an EU certificate; however, it is still recommended to be taken with us, as this will allow us to move within a unified framework mutually agreed by the Member States.

The EU vaccination certificate will be called the “EU Covid Card / digital green certificate” and include the name, ID card/passport number, date of birth and the type and dose number of the vaccine received. 

There will be no central EU database, but a decentralised, secure system will be set up that will be managed by the Member State authorities, from which citizens will be able to download it electronically free of charge or on paper.

The EU Covid Card will have a unique identifier (barcode / QR code) and will consist of three separate certificates that will register whether the owner has already received a coronavirus vaccine, specifying the type as well; whether he/she has ever had a coronavirus test, along with the result; and whether the traveller has been officially recovered in his/her own Member State.

Based on the fact that no Member State can make the possession of an EU vaccination certificate compulsory for the admission of a national of another Member State, both the vaccination and the EU certificate will be voluntary. For those who have not been officially tested for COVID or has not yet been officially recovered will have different conditions for travelling (e.g., mandatory test or quarantine).

Accordingly, the possession of EU Covid Card will provide free travel in the EU,

as well as there will be a unified framework of restrictions which is one of the main objectives, as each Member State will mutually accept the data recorded by the authorities of the other Member State.

Read alsoWhat role for vaccine passports in coronavirus fight?

Source: portfolio.hu